1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a griddle useful for cooking grilled meat and steak at home.
2. Description of Related Art
A griddle has been used for enjoying grilled meat and steak among a small number of people, and is useful not only for enjoying the taste of the grilled meat and the like but also for the pleasures of a happy home.
FIG. 11 shows the configuration of a conventional griddle. The griddle comprises temperature adjustment means (not shown) for adjusting a cooking temperature for a material to be cooked such as meat and vegetables (hereinafter referred to as merely a material), an iron plate 101 with a thickness of several millimeters (mm), a heater 102 for heating the iron plate 101 through heat conduction, a heater container 103 for accommodating the heater 102, a temperature sensor 104 for measuring the temperature around the center of the iron plate 101, and control means (not shown) for controlling the temperature of the iron plate 101 so as to be maintained at the cooking temperature by using the heater 102 and the temperature sensor 104.
In such a conventional griddle, the iron plate 101 is subjected to auxiliary heating for a while to achieve a desired cooking temperature. Then, a material is placed around the center of the iron plate 101 to be grilled. Since the material is cool at this point, the temperature of the iron plate 101 can be decreased. The iron plate 101 and the heater container 103 of the conventional griddle, however, have a large heat capacity, and hence the temperature of the ironplate 101 is prevented from being largely decreased.
Because of the change of society such as the increasing number of dual-income families and the old, and the trend for pursuing a real stuff, cooking utensils are now required to satisfy the following demands (a) through (d):
(a) to require a shorter time for cooking; PA1 (b) to be compact and light; PA1 (c) to consume a small amount of electric power; and PA1 (d) to serve real cuisine.
The real cuisine cooked with a griddle herein indicates food that is generally cooked on a large and thick iron plate or a large hot pebble, the temperature of which is not decreased by placing a material.
In the conventional griddle, the auxiliary heating of the iron plate 101 takes a long time (approximately 10 minutes) because the iron plate 101 and the heater container 103 have a large heat capacity. Further, the conventional griddle is disadvantageously heavy.
In addition, even when the material is put on only a center part of the plate, the entire plate is heated. Therefore the heating of the portion excluding the place where the material is placed is wasted.
Furthermore, since the heat is wasted in this manner, the place where the material is placed cannot be sufficiently heated, resulting in decreasing the temperature of that place of the iron plate.